I admit it, I watch “The Apprentice.” (In fact, I also watch the UK version.) It’s not something I’m proud of, and often the show sure doesn’t make it easy. Take tonight’s episode, when Des Moines resident Tana made it to the final two.

Now, I don’t particularly mind Tana, though I think she didn’t do herself any favors when in one breath she implied that fate is controlling the situation, and in the next she’s thanking G-d for getting her this far. But whatever.

My beef is that following a battery of interviews, one of the CEOs reporting to The Donald had to trot out an old chestnut, saying that he didn’t think as a girl “from Iowa,” Tana would be able to cut it in a big city like “New York or Chicago.” I’m suprised he even recognized Chi-town, located as it is smack in the middle of the flyover states. (Perhaps he was aware it’s also home to the world’s busiest airport and the world’s tastiest pizza.)

It all reminds me of a similar incident back in 2001. It was March 25, and B and I were watching “Politically Incorrect”. If I recall correctly, the show was a special, live post-Oscars edition. The guests: Aisha Tyler, now sometimes CSI cast member, and several others who I don’t recall. The topic: the decline of movies.

Ms. Tyler lets fly with an observation that she didn’t think people in Iowa read the reviews. Then she said something very similar to: “I think they look in the paper and say, ‘Hey, Dude, Where’s My Car? I like dudes. I like cars. Let’s see that.'”

Needless to say, I was similarly unimpressed by Ms. Tyler’s lack of insight on this point. And I shared that with her, in an e-mail with the subject I'd rather be Middle American than you. (What can I say, I was a drama queen back in the day.)

To her credit, Aisha actually replied 12 hours later. She gave me a sort of half apology, saying compelling TV was about dramatic opinions. (I kept both e-mails, which is why my dates are so precise.)

Aisha would have been better served to engage on facts, and not stereotypes, but at least she clarified. I don’t expect to get even that much from the guy on tonight’s show. But I’m going to poke around for his e-mail address anyway…

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 5th, 2005 at 11:54 pm and is filed under Miscellany.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.